Up until this year, whenever you wanted to reference a theatrical flop, you used one word: Carrie.
The musical version of Stephen King's novel arrived on Broadway in the 80's, and it was one pricey disaster. So much so that books have been written about it.
But now, a new King of Flops has emerged on the Great White Way.
Spiderman.
From the moment the show was announced, the theater community was disdainful. Julie Taymor, the director, is a well-respescted revolutionary who won a Tony for her visionary production of The Lion King. Aside from that, all the other elements seemed a bit...misplaced.
Between U2's Bono taking his first stab at writing music for the theater, and the fact that superheroes aren't exactly a mainstay in the theater, everyone was curious to see Spiderman.
Unfortunately, they'd be waiting awhile.
The show was postponed so many times that it lost most of its leads, and when exactly it would open soon became a running joke.
Now, it's finally in previews, and people have been clamoring to the theater just to see if they can be there to see the trainwreck in person.
And for the most part, they haven't been disappointed.
Spiderman was left hanging above the audience for ten minutes during intermission while technicians tried to get him down. One actress suffered a concussion during a show. The producers have been in major spin mode, citing the decent advanced ticket sales.
Chances are, the show will be able to run for awhile just based on its name value. At least, it better, since sixty million dollars has been sunk into it already, and it lacks any chance of having regional or community theater mountings in the future with production values that high.
In other words, musicals tend to live off their lasting legacies long after their time on Broadway is over.
It looks like Spiderman's biggest battle may already be lost.
The musical version of Stephen King's novel arrived on Broadway in the 80's, and it was one pricey disaster. So much so that books have been written about it.
But now, a new King of Flops has emerged on the Great White Way.
Spiderman.
From the moment the show was announced, the theater community was disdainful. Julie Taymor, the director, is a well-respescted revolutionary who won a Tony for her visionary production of The Lion King. Aside from that, all the other elements seemed a bit...misplaced.
Between U2's Bono taking his first stab at writing music for the theater, and the fact that superheroes aren't exactly a mainstay in the theater, everyone was curious to see Spiderman.
Unfortunately, they'd be waiting awhile.
The show was postponed so many times that it lost most of its leads, and when exactly it would open soon became a running joke.
Now, it's finally in previews, and people have been clamoring to the theater just to see if they can be there to see the trainwreck in person.
And for the most part, they haven't been disappointed.
Spiderman was left hanging above the audience for ten minutes during intermission while technicians tried to get him down. One actress suffered a concussion during a show. The producers have been in major spin mode, citing the decent advanced ticket sales.
Chances are, the show will be able to run for awhile just based on its name value. At least, it better, since sixty million dollars has been sunk into it already, and it lacks any chance of having regional or community theater mountings in the future with production values that high.
In other words, musicals tend to live off their lasting legacies long after their time on Broadway is over.
It looks like Spiderman's biggest battle may already be lost.
Comments
Post a Comment